The Patriot League has another new member, bringing its total to 10 full-timers.

Loyola of Maryland University accepted an invitation to join the league starting with the 2013-14 season.

"Loyola University is an outstanding addition to our membership as a private institution with an excellent academic reputation and rich athletic history,” said Lafayette College president Daniel Weiss, chairof the league's presidents. “The decision to add Loyola reflects the Presidents’ commitment to the stability and long-term positioning of the League.”

“It is an honor to join the Patriot League’s distinguished member institutions, all of which consistently demonstrate a profound commitment to excellence both in the classroom and on the field. That commitment is one we share at Loyola, and we see this move as a vital opportunity to continue to elevate our already outstanding athletics programs in keeping with our goal of becoming the nation’s leading Catholic, comprehensive university,” said Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., Loyola’s president.

Loyola (Md.) joins American, Boston University (also coming in 2013-14), Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh (including, at left, senior men's basketball player of the year C.J. McCollum), Army and Navy. Also, Fordham and Georgetown are associate members for football, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in women’s rowing.

The Patriot League was formed as an all-sport conference in 1990-91 after beginning as a football only conference (Colonial League) in 1986. Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh are each founding members of the League. Navy joined the Patriot League for the 1991-92 academic year. Prior to the addition of Boston University in June, American was the last full member to join the Patriot League (2001-02).

Loyola University will join the Patriot League in the following 17 sports; men and women's basketball, men and women's cross country, men's golf, men and women's lacrosse, women's rowing, men and women's soccer, men and women's swimming and diving, men and women's tennis, women’s indoor and outdoor track and field and women’s volleyball.

The Greyhounds posted one of the school’s finest seasons on the field in 2011-12, as the men’s lacrosse team won the NCAA title, the women’s lacrosse team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, the men’s basketball team played in the NCAA Tournament and the men’s golf team earned a spot in the NCAA Regional Tournament.

Eight Greyhound teams - men's cross country, women's basketball, men's swimming and diving, men and women's tennis, women's rowing, and women's indoor and outdoor track and field - were in the top-10 percent of NCAA Division I schools in the multi-year tracking of the Academic Progress Rate (APR). In addition, Loyola recorded 100 percent graduation success rate scores for 11 of 14 sports, according to the NCAA report released in October 2011.

"We are delighted to enhance the Patriot League membership to 10 full members with the addition of Loyola University," Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said. "Loyola University further strengthens the League in the southern portion of our footprint. With the addition of both Boston University and Loyola University for the 2013-14 academic year, we believe that the Patriot League has enriched its future both on the field of play and in the classroom.”

“Loyola athletics’ primary mission is to support the development of student-athletes who thrive academically, athletically, spiritually, and socially,” said James Paquette, assistant vice president and director of athletics at Loyola. “The Patriot League embraces and supports those values, and we are thrilled to become partners with the league. Its members’ histories of academic and athletic excellence are impressive and consistent not only with Loyola’s past achievements, but our future ambitions as well.”

Loyola was established in 1852 as a Jesuit comprehensive university comprising Loyola College, its school of arts and sciences; the Sellinger School of Business and Management; and the School of Education. Loyola enrolls 3,800 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students from across the country and around the world.

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Morning Call Sports Reporters Stephen Miller and Tom Housenick blog about high school and college sports action on and off the field in and around the Lehigh Valley, only at themorningcall.com.

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TOM HOUSENICK watches every move Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum makes on the court, laughs at every joke by Lafayette coach Fran O’Hanlon and watches all the Divisions II and III coaches and players do it for the love of the game. Basketball makes the cold weather season go by fast. Already can’t wait for late February and early March when each possession could result in a season ending or continuing on.

Wrapping up his ninth year at The Morning Call, STEPHEN MILLER is back for year No. 4 on the LVC football beat. He chronicled Central Catholic's state-championship run in 2010, watched Nazareth win its first LVC title in 2011 and saw the league crown tri-champions for the first time in 2012. He has also covered the Phillies, college football and a variety of prep sports while with The Morning Call. To stay updated on the 2013 LVC football season, check out the Varsity blog and follow him on Twitter @mcall_smiller.